Proposals by the Co-Curricular Redesign reengineering team for supporting student activities will be discussed at an open meeting tonight from 6-7 pm in Rm 5-134. The goal of the project is to find ways to make co-curricular support processes more efficient and user-friendly in order to maximize students' experiences in their co-curricular activities.
The team advocates creation of a new center to support student activities and student government which would include financial services, leadership development and organizational advising.
These recommendations also include suggestions for how faculty and staff will be served by new space scheduling and event management processes.
The plan was developed over the summer. Students and staff members on the team reviewed all services that support student activities, including student groups, athletics, and music and theater arts groups. The team, led by Anthony Ives (SB/MCP '97) and Associate Director of Admissions Vincent James, collected information from students, staff, faculty and other universities and analyzed how students register their groups, schedule space, plan and register events, manage their student group accounts, and receive financial and other resources from MIT.
The proposed center would support the following three processes:
- New Student Group Recognition Process-a central database will list all student groups, including departmental club sport activities. This database would be linked to the financial operation, event management and fund allocation processes. Staff members will help new groups go through the Association of Student Activities recognition process and in finding specialty advisors if necessary.
- Student Group Accounts-groups would have their own individual MIT accounts. They could also have accounts with outside banks and access to an electronic accounting package for their MIT and outside accounts. Accounting staff will provide advising and support for groups' financial needs.
- Resource Allocation-student groups could request funds from individual departments and through a student-led Central Allocations Board. They would have access to a central database of available departmental funds.
The team also suggests creation of an Event Management Center to provide one-stop shopping for space scheduling and event management services for the MIT community. Students, faculty and staff could see and request available space on-line at any time. On-site support for events would also be provided across campus.
Further feedback meetings open to everyone in the MIT community will be held Wednesday, Sept. 18, noon-1pm, main dining room in Building W11; and Thursday, Sept. 19, 6-7pm, Rm 5-134.
At the end of the month, the team will present its recommendations to the Steering Committee, which will act on the recommendations and name an implementation team. Anyone who would like to hear more about the team's recommendations and give feedback can attend one of the meetings or e-mail the team at .
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on September 11, 1996.
